It is Easter today and there is joyous mood in church this morning. Our choir group has practiced for over three months, on every Sunday morning. However, I am not sure how the hymns are and hope everything went well. Immediately after mass, the priest told the congregation to enjoy the rest of the day.

Well, enjoy means one thing. Eat, eat and eat. I didn’t make any special meals today because it was already over lunch time when I got home from church. I was flat out and didn’t have the strength to cook any special dinner either. So, we ate out. Come to think of it, I think I have not stop eating since Easter Vigil when I completed my Lent fasting. I must get one of those exercise bikes and burn off those steaks, leg of lamb and roast chicken that I had walloped.

Yesterday, I had some quiet moments with a woman that I just know. Our conversations turned to the death of her sister. Her sister went to China for a holiday and met with an accident. Their faith required burial and the family decided to bring her body back to the country for proper burial. Meanwhile, the other passengers of the bus that crashed, merely have the body cremated and brought back the urn for closure.

The lady told me of the hassles they had to go through. She said they were thankful that her sister had bought travel insurance at the last minute before her travel. Normally, her sister refused to spend the extra hundred bucks for the insurance but somehow, on that trip, she bought it. My new found friend told me if that she hadn’t, they wouldn’t be able to afford flying back her sister’s body to the country as it involves a lot of red tape and was triple the price of a normal ticket.

What I marvelled was how stoid and steady she was in losing her sister in that manner. Faith does a lot of wonders to people. I am glad to know her as she showed me what faith can do in times of grief.

The other day, I asked my priest how does on separate their Christian self from the human side. Probably, they cannot understand my question. However, the answers I got from him and another learned person are really what I was looking for.

My priest told me that we mustn’t be hypocrites and hide behind a facade. The other learned man told me we must speak the truth. I explained to them that it is not easy trying to be all churchy and stuffs, Miss Manners and all when we have to push our opinions to the masses who don’t hear that well. It is not they are deaf but I need to speak the language they know. And sometimes, these two don’t mix.

After that night of questions and answers, I seem to have found more courage to take on some issues. I feel it is my Christian right. If I have the skills to be ahead of the race, and lots of people are going to find my views before others, why not make the most of it? After all, God has bestowed this gift to me and it is only right I use it in the best way to keep goodwill, peace and harmony.

These two are part of the process of growing up. When a child reaches 9 years old, he will go through his First Holy Communion. It is a big stride from his baptism. At the communion, he can partake in the Holy Eucharist, i.e. the Body of Chirst during mass celebrations in church. Well, basically, it means that he is old enough to have supper with Jesus. It is a joyful event and sometimes, parents sent out communion invitations to friends and parishioners to celebrate this.

At 16 years old, the child will go through Confirmation. i.e. the final hurdle that he is truly accepting Christ and is one with God. My second son is going to have his Confirmation this year. He needs to find a patron saint name and we are joking with him to get the name Angel as it will make his name sounds like Michaelangelo. He said there is indeed a saint name Angel and it doesn’t not have to be a name for a girl. Oh well, I still think it is weird to have a name like Angel for a guy. Anyway, I urged him to use his father’s name as the middle name like my eldest son.

We shall see…

I love Christmas because it seems to transcend most of the faiths. My neighbour is normally the first to decorate her home with Christmas wreath eventhough she has this huge ‘ang kong’ or altar. It is very nice to see her putting up her Christmas decorations way before me. In fact, I don’t have any Christmas wreaths at all because they are so costly and seriously, it is a nuisance to scratch on those rough stuffs on it. Hahaha.

I have found the biggest range of cross pendants! I love crosses especially during Christmas and Easter. It is the little symbol that tells other that I am a Christian. It may not mean much to others but for me who comes from a family of non-Christians, I want the little symbol to remind them that I love Christ and Christmas. Few years ago, my husband bought me a gold pendant. Since then, I have bought myself several pairs of earrings with crosses.

Now, with Christmas just 29 days away, it is once again time for some Christmas Jewelry. Hubby has asked if I am not tired yet of looking at cross pendant, cross earrings and little crosses on bracelets. I told him one cannot get tired of these beauties. To a man, a cross is just a cross because they don’t see the finer points of them. There are those made with diamonds and cheaper ones with cubic zirconia. Each have their own beauty and uniqueness eventhough the prices are a lot different.

So, if you are a in a dilemma on what to buy for a loved one, do check out those Online jewelry stores and browse around. They do have such fantastic range and you will probably end up not able to decide what to buy. Never mind, just buy everything!

If crosses are not what you are looking for, try some Solitaire Diamond Pendants. I am sure every woman cannot resist the sparkles of a lone diamond on her beautiful neck.

So, to avoid the mad rush related to Christmas shopping, why not try this online jewelry store and get what you need? They have made it easy for customers because they can choose by items and price range. For purchases over $99, you get free delivery and free packaging and a 30 days return.

You know what I hate about Christmas tree? Searching for the darn bulbs, darn baubles and sometimes, we cannot even find where the tree is! Since we only use it once a year, my housekeeper will stashed it somewhere and we had a hard time figuring out where she kept it.

Last night, my children bugged me to put up the Christmas tree. We did find the tree, after much sweats and dust. However, we cannot find the baubles and ornaments.

My forgetful hubby insisted that the little bag we found is all the ornaments we had. No, dear, that’s not correct. See? We have so many other stuffs that have gone missing.

Even the Santa Claus figurines are missing.

I shall have to wait till tomorrow when my housekeeper come so that she can dig out those stuffs. Now, I got a bare tree looking so forlon in the living room.

Today is the 34th Sunday or the last Sunday of the (Catholic) year. It is also the Feast of Christ the King. Next week, we are in Advent. It means the church takes on a new colour, i.e. pink! And Christmas is indeed in the air.